Pressure-Washing the van.. touchless wash?

N

narrative_escapes

Member
T6 Pro
So, I have just power washed the van down after its first trip now I am paranoid I've ruined the paintwork... haha.

Not that there is any indication I have but I am in 'never owned anything this expensive territory'!!

I even use the more indirect hose.

What's the best way to for me to clean it more without swirling my hands on it as that always results in disaster? This show foam and a non-touch approach seems good looking at some of the threads?

I am also aware it's winter so anything I do ain't going to last long.
 
Mate, don't think that the snow foam approach means no touching because it doesn't. By all means, try it. You will quickly realise that you don't have a perfectly clean T6 once the suds are off and its dry. Rather a patchy streaky half clean T6 that looked better dirty.

There will be loads of different advice on this subject, but the best I can give you is simple. Avoid road side gangs, dealer valets, Scouts at your local village hall and sponges.
Darker colours are more difficult to maintain than lighter, but with careful prep and clean equipment, you can minimise the inevitable swirls.

Oh, and it's highly unlikely your pressure washer has or will cause any adverse effects. :thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
Lots on the internet.

My usual routine is suds on first (pressure washers usually have a shampoo applicator that goes on the lance). Leave for a few minutes then pressure wash all over. This gets off the bulk of the grime / mud / grit / sand.

Washing is with two buckets - one with suds and one with rinse water. Use a wash mitt (never a sponge) and rinse it after each use - ie suds, van, rinse, suds van, rinse...

Rinse off with hose once all washed. If drying, use microfibre towels.

Ian

PS a good wax on the paint will make washing it easier
 
Yeah, I have seen the additions to the pressure washer.

I think my challenge is whenever I've washed a car in the past I think I've don't it more damage than leaving it dirty!

Will build to it slowly. Will look into the suds doe the pressure washer.

Yeah, waxing is solid but that's the exact process that I obviously did wrong before (luckily on nothing expensive).

Tourershine said:
Darker colours are more difficult to maintain than lighter, but with careful prep and clean equipment, you can minimise the inevitable swirls.

Oh, and it's highly unlikely your pressure washer has or will cause any adverse effects. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Haha, I am sure it is not that easy I just know my attempts at car clean have not gone well. Just one disaster and frustrations after another.

But yes, I am going to be the only one giving it problems. The no contact wash came from a YouTube video.

It's chrome yellow for the record.
 
Just watch a few youtube video’s - just following a few basic do’s and don’ts and it will be far better than taking it to the local hand wash.
 
Lots of good advice already, remember, when you pressure wash, each tiny bit of dirt or grit that you remove is one bit less that you will be rubbing in to your clear coat when you manually wash the van. Pressure washing before the conventional wash will not cause damage if you are careful, rather it will lessen the chances of damage when you wash the paint with the wash mitt.
 
Lots of really good advice here already, but here's a little bit specifically on the subject of snow foam; Buy a proper snow foam lance, the foam bottle ones often supplied with a pressure washer are not good. Also, use a decent snow foam, a better snow foam will sit and dwell on the van for longer, soaking deeper into the dirt and allowing more to be pressure washed away before you touch the van. I have tried many different snow foams over the years to compare them and hands down the best is Autobrite Magifoam. It lifts more dirt than anything else I've used and I now don't use any other snow foam. (I'm nothing to do with Autobrite by the way). You can buy their foam lance with a bottle of Magifoam and it's good value, currently on offer for £35 including the 500ml bottle of foam, just make sure you order the right connector.

Here's a link to magifoam and the lance.

The 500ml bottle won't last long, but give it a try and if you like it, buy more!

As others have already said, never use a sponge, never ever use a sponge! Get a good quality wash mitt, use the two bucket method for washing and good quality microfibre towels for drying. Rinse the van thoroughly before drying though.

One other thing that really makes washing easier is well protected paintwork. A ceramic coating or similar is best, but a good quality wax will do a fine job too, but doesn't last nearly as long before it needs reapplying.
 
As per the above - the only thing I do differently is citrus and hydrophobic:

  • Pressure wash.
  • Snow foam with about 150ml of citrus added.
  • Rinse.
  • Two-bucket wash. Clay bar, if needed.
  • Hydrophobic spray whilst the van is still wet with the suds.
  • Rinse. Dry with a micro fibre towel (that’s the size of a human towel).

I fully intend on looking in to getting a DI vessel soon as the van is always in the sun when I wash it.
 
Ads_Essex said:
As per the above - the only thing I do differently is citrus and hydrophobic:

  • Pressure wash.
  • Snow foam with about 150ml of citrus added.
  • Rinse.
  • Two-bucket wash. Clay bar, if needed.
  • Hydrophobic spray whilst the van is still wet with the suds.
  • Rinse. Dry with a micro fibre towel (that’s the size of a human towel).

I fully intend on looking in to getting a DI vessel soon as the van is always in the sun when I wash it.
Click to expand...

I have an 11L vessel from Cleaning Spot and it produces mineral free water. Get a cheap tester too. Resin is quite expensive but prob cheaper than paying £7 every two weeks for someone to sand your paintwork!
 
my routine is:

Bilt Hamber Korrosol
Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel
Valpro Citrus
Rinse
Bilt Hamber Snow Foam
Dwell then rinse
Bilt Hamber Shampoo
Rinse and Dry
Autoglym Resin Polish
Meguiars Detailer
Meguiars Tyre Gel
 
How do find the Bilt Hamber snow foam @T6180 ? Reviews I've seen on YT seem to suggest it doesn't foam too well but its rated for its ability to lift dirt as a pre wash. I'm wondering about a 200ml mix with 100ml of Magifoam. See if I can get the clean from the Bilt Hamber foam with the good dwell properties of the Magifoam.
 
Dieseldonkey said:
How do find the Bilt Hamber snow foam @T6180 ? Reviews I've seen on YT seem to suggest it doesn't foam too well but its rated for its ability to lift dirt as a pre wash. I'm wondering about a 200ml mix with 100ml of Magifoam. See if I can get the clean from the Bilt Hamber foam with the good dwell properties of the Magifoam.
Click to expand...

That's right, it's not the thickest foam but I find it shifts a lot more dirt than anything else I've tried (autoglym, meguires, AD, Carbon Collective) and for the price I think it's so much more value for money
 
Paynewright said:
Lots on the internet.

My usual routine is suds on first (pressure washers usually have a shampoo applicator that goes on the lance). Leave for a few minutes then pressure wash all over. This gets off the bulk of the grime / mud / grit / sand.

Washing is with two buckets - one with suds and one with rinse water. Use a wash mitt (never a sponge) and rinse it after each use - ie suds, van, rinse, suds van, rinse...

Rinse off with hose once all washed. If drying, use microfibre towels.

Ian

PS a good wax on the paint will make washing it easier
Click to expand...

This is my routine as well.
 
Ads_Essex said:
As per the above - the only thing I do differently is citrus and hydrophobic:

  • Pressure wash.
  • Snow foam with about 150ml of citrus added.
  • Rinse.
  • Two-bucket wash. Clay bar, if needed.
  • Hydrophobic spray whilst the van is still wet with the suds.
  • Rinse. Dry with a micro fibre towel (that’s the size of a human towel).

I fully intend on looking in to getting a DI vessel soon as the van is always in the sun when I wash it.
Click to expand...
Good routine, however if you're not going to machine polish the paintwork...easy on the clay bar!
 
Dieseldonkey said:
You dont need to spend much to get a good lance/bottle. Been using one of these for a while now...

￡13.56 | MJJC with High Quality Foam Gun for Karcher K2 - K7, Snow Foam Lance for all Karcher K Series pressure washer Karcher
￡13.56 | MJJC with High Quality Foam Gun for Karcher K2 - K7, Snow Foam Lance for all Karcher K Series pressure washer Karcher

Much better than the bottle that came with my Karcher.

View attachment 57215
Click to expand...
How long had the snow foam been on when you took this pic? I would say that's not really "snow foam" more shampoo.

Try adjusting the mixture strength, so it's a thick coat. Thicker coat weighs more and will pull more dirt off in your pre-wash stage.

Hope that helps?

IMG_7293.jpg
 
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